Cosmo Cricket: Welcome to my World!

So I decided to throw my "hat" into your Design Team call...along with hundreds of other wonderful scrappers out there I'm sure! Thanks so much for allowing me to show you my STUFF...my pride & joy...my creative efforts!!! I am definitely a layout girl @ heart...but I have come to enjoy creating cards as well! So take a peek, link to my online galleries...whatever you'd like! Meanwhile, I'll just sit back and CROSS MY FINGERS! :0}

Here's what I'd like to share with you:

CARD: "You're Tweet!"

LAYOUT: "the only ONE for me"

LAYOUT: "funny Bone"

LAYOUT: "Made with 100% PURE LOVE"

Layout: "age 14"

LAYOUT: "OLD TOWN"

P.S. I'm lovin' the Early Bird collection!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Take care!

Wheat Harvest 2009

Just jumping on here for a quick share of photos...my oldest son, Jeremy, is working for a local farmer this summer. Actually, this is his 3rd summer....so he has become quite the expert! ha, ha!!! I am so proud of him! He works so hard and you just can't put a price tag on experience like this...he has learned so much about responsibility and work ethic, all while having fun too. He is always coming home with a story about his day...yeah, I should be writing those down!


So one evening a few nights ago, Jeremy calls me. He says, "Mom, what are you doing right now? Are you busy?" I say, "I'm not too busy. What's going on?" He says, "Well, if you hurry, you can come out to where we are harvesting and get a great sunset picture." LONG PAUSE HERE. Of course, I'm so touched that he thought to give Mom a call....& he is totally trying to help me get the PERFECT "picture of the day"! I dropped everything & drove about 10 minutes & here's what I captured:


The beginnings of a perfect sunset:

Jeremy:

Cutting wheat:

and this:

Here's my favorite:

Another gorgeous Kansas sunset...nothing else like it!

Thanks, Jeremy....these are going to make some awesome scrapbook pages :0]

"Vintage Sunrise"

The full reveal of the July kit is up at Scrapbook Circle! "Vintage Sunrise" is absolutely a must have (just a little enabling there....) It is full of lots of wonderful patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket and Sassafrass...and fun embellies like Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons, Kaiser paper flowers, Making Memories journaling spots & alpha...& more!



I finally got a chance to play and decided to create a card using a brand new June 2009 CardMap at PageMaps. I think I've mentioned before that I LOVE PageMaps! :0]


Here's "You're Tweet":



and a close up of the tag, Jenni Bowlin button, Kaiser paper flower & Sassafrass cardstock stickers:


How cute is this? I absolutely love these Cosmo Cricket Early Bird patterned papers! So many colors...so many possibilities!


Thanks for stopping by! Take care!

19 years...

Today my DH & I celebrated 19 years of wedded bliss...ok, let's re-phrase that...19 years of marriage! :0} He's the BEST thing that ever happened to me & puts up with a lot of stuff...but, come to think of it, so do I!!! Marriage is hard work. Period. Did anyone say it would be EASY? I think not. Is it all worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!! So raise a glass...here's a toast to marriage, hanging in there through the rough patches, celebrating the good times, counting our blessings & lovin' each other!

Love you hon!

Our most recent photo together, taken @ the wedding dance this past weekend!

How about a super quick card share? The SPCC Color Combo was so fun last week, so I decided to join in again for this weeks challenge:

I will have to admit, this one was a little tougher for me...I love purple, but I just don't tend to scrap with it much...so here's the thank you card that I came up with. It will be perfect as an AnyHero card for Cards for Heroes!

I tried something a little different with this card...decided to fold over the corner and then place the sentiment on the inside, so that it peeks out of the card.

Supplies:


White card base - unknown
PP - Scenic Route-Grafton/James Street
PP - Creative Memories
Green cardstock - unknown
Border sticker - KI Memories Borderlines cardstock sticker - Pop Culture
Cuttlebug die cut machine
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing folder
Spellbinders Nestabilities Scallop circle
Stampin' Up - Thank You sentiment
Stampin' Up - Chocolate Chip ink
Zig Zag machine stitching


One more thing...I finally added "Followers" in the right hand side of my blog. I'd love for you to add yourself...that way I can see whose checking in on me :0} and I can come & stalk you too! LOL! Gotta love blogger buddies!!!


Thanks for stopping by! Take care!

An easy way to make a difference...

If you are like me, you love to join in on "pay it forward" type activities...those little things that can make a HUGE difference for someone...

I just came across a blog post on Lisa Bearnson's blog that I'd like to share. A simple act for a child facing the unthinkable.

Just go check it out. You'll be glad you did.

I'll be back later with another post.

Take care!

A little whoot whoot!

So it is seriously past my bedtime...again! But just had to share a quick post tonight...I was so surprised, excited & honored to make it into the Top 5 at Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo! I completed Color Combo #2 for last week and my layout was chosen! Thanks Samantha!

Already working on this weeks Color Combo:

Go check out SPCC...lots of fun! & she's currently looking for a design team! It could be you!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Take care!


P.S. How do you like the new look of my blog??? I found a freebie blog template at LeeLou's and gave it a try...I think it is PERFECT for summer!

especially for you

Happy Father's Day! Hope you found a way to celebrate the day that was special for you & your family! What a weekend we had...a friend got married, and two of my brothers were in the wedding party, so it was great to be able to spend time with family too!

Here's a fun "party" photo of part of my family...not sure if I have ever mentioned it on here before, but I am the oldest of 6 kids...and the ONLY girl!

Not a perfect picture...but really fun! The 4 big guys are my "little" brothers...just missing one of us this weekend!

This is one of my favorite photos from the wedding...my nephew enjoying punch & wedding cake! What a cutie, huh?

How fun is this photo? I am HORRIBLE at taking self photos, but my sis-in-law to be has it down to a science! So here we are with two of our nieces...crammed into the photo! LOL!

On Sunday after church we headed out to the farm where my parents live for lunch. Great food, great laughs, homemade vanilla ice cream & brownies! Doesn't get much better than that! Here's a photo of me & my dad:

Finally, one last family photo to share....here's my DH with his sons today...he's the BEST dad int he world! (in my opinion, anyway!)

Now, how about a card share? The challenge this week at Fun-Frilled was to create a Father's Day card. How about 3 of them?!? I totally lifted this idea from somewhere...but I can't remember where I saw this similar design...

"especially for you" 3 ways:

These cards were super easy & really fun to put together...just used scraps!

Thanks for stopping by! Take care!

Cardsignings across the USA!

Swarovski Crystals is partnering with Cards for Heroes for the next couple weeks to get 30,000 cards signed! They're gorgeous cards with a little crystal bling added to them . . . and about 150 cards are at each of their store locations til July 4th to be signed by customers. (Some of the stores have a sweet deal offering a free tshirt with purchase, check and see if yours does!) The signing is free—so please take your friends and family with you. Email them about it too! Click on the image above or ---> here <---to search for a store location near you!

Hope there is a store location near you! Please do what you can to support this wonderful cause!

Thank You!

My Little Shoebox sketch contest

I'm a sucker for a good sketch contest...or should I say, I'm addicted to them! & not only sketch challenges, but all sorts of challenges! One of my goals is to get chosen to design for a challenge blog of some sort...I think it would be so much fun!


Well, PageMaps blog is at it again! All I had to do was create a layout of my choosing based on this sketch: (& of course, the PageMap sketches are all amazing!)

& what's up for grabs with this contest??? The winner will receive a complete set of My Little Shoebox's new "Neighborhood" collection (includes paper, die-cuts, chip alphabet, glazed letters, transparency and minis). Sounds great to me!


I decided to use some photos of Jeremy's 14th birthday...yes, I am over 2 years behind in my scrapping endeavors...but I'm OK with that! I chose my 2 favorites and then pulled out the May & June Scrapbook Circle kits to see what I could come up with...nothing fancy, but I think it really turned out great...it has a fun, light-hearted teenager feel to it, don't you think???


age 14:




Here's a rundown of the supplies I used:


Kraft cardstock-unknown, Turquoise cardstock-Paper Temptress, PP-Fancy Pants Summer Soiree - Title Strips (June kit @ Scrapbook Circle), PP-Fancy Pants Summer Soiree - Wave (June kit @ Scrapbook Circle), PP-Cosmo Cricket Snorkel - Boardwalk (June kit @ Scrapbook Circle), Jenni Bowlin Black Label Strip sticker (May kit @ Scrapbook Circle), Alpha-Scrapworks Flea Market, Sassafrass Chipboard numbers (June kit @ Scrapbook Circle), Basic Grey Lime Rickey Chipboard (June kit @ Scrapbook Circle), Bazzill Edges in Lime (June kit @ Scrapbook Circle)

& here's a few close ups; gotta love this kooky bird from Basic Grey! I just sanded the edges a bit!

I used the Jenni Bowlin Black Strip sticker to anchor my title...& aren't those chipboard #'s great? I love 'em!

finally, a close up of my journaling:

For some reason, when I load pictures onto my blog, you can't click on them to get a zoomed/better view....does anybody out there know what I am missing? HELP!?!


Thanks for stopping by...hope your Father's Day weekend is a great one! Take care!

This could be a LONG post...

I have so much to share...but I think I will save some of it for a post later this week!

First off, I just have to show you what happens when you lose CONTROL of your camera...so here goes:

In the true spirit of Project 365, I will occasionally relinquish the camera so that our Project 365 album truly reflects the day to day happenings of our family...that being said, I encouraged my son, Joel, age 14, to get our "photo of the day" on Tuesday.

He hangs out @ home quite a bit during the summer, with random outings here & there, so I thought this would be fun for him - he loves taking pictures just about as much as I do!

Imagine my surprise last night as I was reviewing the photos on my digi camera...OF COURSE, a 14 year old boy is going to turn the camera on himself??!!?? & his favorite kitty, Shadow!

Honestly, these photos just {tickle} me, so one of them will officially be included in our Project 365! & what do you think about Shadow?

I can read her mind...& she is not a very happy kitty...actually she hates the camera! She turns away from the camera & eventually just runs & hides...I'm guessing her photo shoot with Joel was quite traumatic...LOL!!!

OKAY...now for something scrappy! I recently discovered a new challenge blog...gotta love those right?!? I first met Samantha over at Vintage Plum and now she has started her very own color combo challenge! & she has a design team call going on right now...so I think I will give it a try!

Here's her blog: SPCC

And here's the Color Combo #2:

I LOVE this combo! & it worked perfectly for some photos that I just took! My layout is also based on sketch #24 at 52sketches52weeks!

Here's "miss you...already"

This layout was created using photos of Pamela, my in-laws foreign exchange student from Germany. She is such a sweetie! Journaling reads: You became a part of our family & opened our eyes to your world - Pamela's going away party June 14 , 2009

Supplies used:

PP-American Crafts-Sixth Avenue-Union Square

PP-American Crafts-Crafts Fair (May Scrapbook Circle kit)

PP-Fancy Pants Delight Cards (May Scrapbook Circle kit)

Bazzill Edges in Lime (June Scrapbook Circle kit)

Creating Keepsakes Mix It Up kit - chipboard tree branch

Alphas-Creative Memories & Making Memories

Brads-Stampin' Up

Paper Flowers-My Mind's Eye & Bazzill

Flair button-American Crafts (June Scrapbook Circle kit)

Ribbon-Offray

Journaling Pen-Creative Memories

Ink-Stampin' Up-Chocolate Chip

Machine stitching & some sanding

Time to sign off...I will share more this week, so stay tuned! Take care!

Seriously?!?

Ok, so imagine my surprise when I hopped onto Scrapbook Circle a few nights ago and saw that Diana had posted in the forum....& the link in her post was to this:

Creating Keepsakes Blog

Claude, my design team buddy @ Scrapbook Circle, and myself both had layouts featured on Creating Keepsakes Blog!!! How much fun is that??? Claude's is the first layout, mine is the third...still just can't believe it...still just over the moon excited about it....so nice to have one of my ALL TIME favorite layouts recognized...just makes me SMILE REALLY BIG...

Seriously?!?

A blog award and some other stuff :0)

I was totally surprised by a fun blog award that I recently received from Marilyn! I visited her blog during a blog hop and she came & then visited me too! What a sweetie! Thanks Marilyn!

Go visit her blog...she has lots of fun things going on!

Here are the rules:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog, together with the name of the person who gave it to you, and his/her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I will pass this award along to 5 other bloggers...( I don't have time to pass it along to 15! ) So here's who I would like to honor with this bloggy award: Claude, Melanie, Lisa, Amy & another Lisa!

Now, for a quick layout share! I have joined in the fun over at YMBD and have completed my first week layout for "92 Days of Summer"... (I ended up not using the sketch & just did my own thing)

Supplies I used are mostly from the Creating Keepsakes Project 365 kit including pp, journaling cards, days of the week labels & date stamp. I also used a Sassafrass Retro card and Sassafrass chipboard numbers from the June kit at Scrapbook Circle...fun stuff, huh???

Here are photos of the Left & Right side of this 2 pager...if you want a closer look :0)

Thanks for stopping by! Take care & have a great weekend!

{92 Days of Summer}

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a link to Your Memories By Design...what caught my eye was the "92 Days of Summer" contest...so I clicked the link and now I'm officially hooked! YMBD is hosting a fun contest and the ONLY catch is that you take a photo everyday beginning on June 1 and each week you must create a layout (or a 2 pager) using those seven unique photos from the week. Well, since I am already doing Project 365 (taking a photo everyday) I thought I'd join in on the fun! I considered creating a separate album for the "92 Days of Summer" project, but I think I will use the great 12x12 pp's that were included with my Project 365 kit and create layouts using those supplies...that way, the layouts will coordinate perfectly with what I already have going with my Project 365 album...hope I didn't lose anyone there? Does my rambling make any sense at all??? LOL!

So, I took my daily photos this past week! That's step one! Now to get the layout created...hmmm...the deadline for layouts to be included in the contest isn't actually until Sept. 30th, but there are chances along the way for EARLY BIRD prizes...so...would love to be in the running for some fun scrappy stuff, right??? RIGHT!!! But I have a couple of other scrapbook projects with DEADLINES looming...so for now I think I will settle for having the photos taken!

The great thing about YMBD is that the forum is posting weekly inspiration, a sketch, photo taking ideas, etc. So this works so well with Project 365...& who couldn't use a little inspiration?!? Here's the sketch they posted this week. You don't have to use it, but I think I will...

& did I mention prizes are up for grabs??? the Grand Prize??? is a SLICE!!!

Just thought I'd share my photos for the 1 week:

June 1: My cute little ceramic frog that is currently sitting on my front porch...he is one of my signs of summer for sure!!!

June 2: Now this isn't the greatest of photos, but it was the best I could get of our newly installed Onyx shower. There is a long story behind this photo that you DON'T want to here, but in a nutshell, we have been without our master shower since December, so it is such a relief to have the new shower DONE!!!

June 3: The boys headed to lift weights and then basketball workouts...

June 4: Another sign of summer at my house...the canister of whey protein sits out on the counter while the boys are lifting weight during the summer...they are trying to gain weight...hmmm...& I am trying to do the exact OPPOSITE! LOL!

June 5: Caught Kevin in his mobile office...he is on his cell phone a CRAZY amount of time every day...

June 6: Joel is showing off his woods project from this past year at school. He just got it done & brought it home...I am loving it!

June 7: We hosted a youth religion class end of year party today...& I caught Jeremy trying to fit into this swing...LOL! Boy has he grown up!!!

As usual, it is getting late...& tomorrow is another DREADED Monday...ha, ha! So better sign off for now! Thanks for stopping by! Take care!!!